http://www.musicforrelief.org/

Download a "free" album from here, and then (if you so choose - please do), donate to the Haiti relief effort.

Tracklist:
1. Linkin Park - Not Alone
2. Slash - Mother Maria (featuring Beth Hart)
3. Kenna - Never Let Me Down
4. Peter Gabriel - Heroes
5. Alanis Morissette - Still (Acoustic, Vancouver Sessions)
6. Lupe Fiasco and Kenna - Resurrection
7. Hoobastank - We Are One
8. The All-American Rejects - The Wind Blows (Skrillex Remix)
9. Enrique Iglesias - It Must Be Love
10. Dave Matthews Band - Typical Situation (Live)

Also, for all you people who are still into RPGs, and want to help out:

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/rpg_haiti.php?SRC=haiti

Or you can get an AMAZING Charity Bundle for a donation of just $20. There are hundreds of dollars worth of product in this bundle, featuring many of our fantastic publishers, and all proceeds go to help Haiti recovery efforts.

But really, does one really need an excuse to help out those in need?

...whoa.

The Mysterious Cities of Gold

"In March 2007 Movie Plus Group acquired the rights to the story from NHK and announced that they would be producing a full length feature film reprising the original story, with the intention of looking at a sequel if the film proved successful. The film entered production in 2008."

and also:

"Three new seasons of 26 episodes each are confirmed and in progress. The design for the characters will be the same with some 3d graphic update. The production will begin late 2009 and the first season is due to air in 2011."

This cartoon cultivated a love of history and mythology in me from a very young age. Sure, it kinda died along the way of growing up somewhat, but this was such an awesome cartoon when I was young.

Double whoa. Lyrics for title song can be found here:

http://www.80scartoons.co.uk/cities2.php

...can be demoralising. Sometimes, it's not. Tonight we got trounced in dodgeball, and it's hard not to point fingers, or to be hard on one's self. It's just the nature of things I guess.

But the thing is, I still love the game. It's a lot of fun. I haven't given up on it, and we're going to start a new season soon. And we're looking at changing the team name as well. Currently we're the Artful Dodgers...I'm voting for becoming Team Ninja! XD

And we'd also get T-shirts...lol. Corny, yes, but awesome nonetheless! XD

At the end of the day, when we lose, when we fall, it's just a matter of picking ourselves up off the ground, dusting our ass off, and charging back into the fray, laughing maniacally all the way! :D

I'm currently checking out the eagerness of the team to participate in practise games outside of the league (currently we just rock up to games, play, and then disband til we see each other again at the next game), and then want to start inviting anyone else to join in on the practise/social games.

If any of you few still reading this are interested, or know of people who might be interested, lemme know yeah? :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfqNXADl3kU&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBA_8JOKqao

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ms3QdGIzltU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CB1t1kdRbDw&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8TQ5pW4_Ac&feature=channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0E-0ntoNWo&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpHCamZB3KA&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hM3jzlyNIpc&feature=related

and finally...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8Kyi0WNg40&feature=related

XD XD XD

Anyway cuteness overload...

It's a pity that Hamsters are banned in Australia... :(

Had so many dreams last night...and they were all so interesting and bizarre at the same time...and they just kept going on and on...

I remember being in this dream sequence, where it was action packed, and it felt like a FPS. Sounds geeky, sure, but I think I was with a group of people, I was armed, there was some mysterious stuff going down at some sorta research lab and I had some sort of burgeoning powers. Things were just beginning to heat up, and then of course I woke up.

...and found someone snuggled up against me... <3

That was nice... ^______^

Anyway, then I fell back asleep, and I was kinda like ship-wrecked somewhere, except I didn't really experience the whole ship-wrecking aspect of it. I was just on this beach type area, and I had this kinda magical fold out grass hut thingy, and there were only a couple of us there. And then more survivors came filtering in and it got quite packed, and the hut thing was somehow bigger, to accommodate the larger amounts of people. And I had this tiny flame, like a miniature camp fire, but I recall the warmth from the flame, and I was inviting some girl over to warm herself cos she was soaked. And next to us there was an old Chinese woman who was being old and Chinese-y (grumbly). XD

And just a little further down from where I was, there was this shop, and inside was Hamish along with this uber goth Asian punk person with heaps of tatts and piercings. Hamish was looking for someone, and I was there to tell him where that person was.

There was a few more dreams that I had, as I drifted in and out of sleep on that hot night, but it's all escaped me now. But damn it was an interesting night of dreams. Didn't even really eat anything before going to bed to have caused all these crazy dreams.

Hahaha...and then when I woke up again at around 6am, a certain someone couldn't sleep, so they sat up and read, whilst I hugged their leg and drifted back into my curious awesome dreams... XD

Sleep is good. Sharing of bed with someone when sleeping is even better... ^_____^

And now I'm just about to go seek out some more interesting dreams... :D

Having played the demos of Braid and Age of Booty...I'm tempted to buy them...dammit...dammit alllll....I wonder how long it will take for them to drop in price again...I'm also wondering whether Catan and Carcassonne would translate well onto the Xbox...

Game prices seem to have gone up heaps...particularly at JB...good thing I don't have too much lined up on the horizon to get atm...until the ones I've previously mentioned finally get released at least.

I want to sell my copy of Red Alert 3 (installed once only, never played online, PC, $30)...and I'm definitely hanging out for extra content for L4D...which should have been announced by now...

Mmmmm...I want to go to Ikea sometime and play imaginary real life Sims in my head...lol...meaning I want to look at their stuff and imagine it in my own place... XD

For the most part, I'm a pretty blessed person...I was born in Australia, I've managed to keep myself alive all this time, and I've got some pretty awesome friends. What more can a person really ask for? Personally, I'm in a pretty good place at the moment. I have a job, I have a full stomach everyday, I've got people who care for me and love me.

Sure, I've got some debts, sure I'm getting on in my years, but I'm not too stressed. Things will work out, y'know. Life's too short to worry about things that I can't do anything about, or even am not willing to do anything about. But I can't help but sometimes get caught up in the woes of others around me. My heart goes out to any number of people right now, but I feel like I can't do much more than observe. I almost feel too numb to do anything or try to say something to them. Or wish they could be stronger and do the things they really need to do it to drag themselves out. But they're just the thoughts locked away inside my head.

I think I've just gotten complacent about facing life. Doing those little things that I keep putting off because they're just "not that important". If I'm going to go back to the days of yore where I reached out a hand, I think I better find my own two feet again first. And really, I think that's where I actually want to be.

On other matters, I've been imagining what the place I will eventually move into with Annie will be like. I'm aiming high and dreaming big. Surely that's the best way to approach it right?

My thoughts are with a lot of people at the moment. But regardless of how bad things can get, no matter what, remember that there's still joy to be found, and laughter in the company in others. The day you can't laugh anymore should be the day that you draw your last breath.

And at the end of the day, spilt milk is spilt milk.

(Oh, and I'm pretty sure my finger is *at least* fractured...cos it still hurts if pressure is applied...I should get that checked out before I start playing dodgeball again... :p)

It'd be nice to just hang out with a couple of friends at a time, and just try to top each other with embarassing stories, whilst sharing a tub of ice cream...

Just to counter my previous post...I recently had an experience that still makes me smile thinking back on it.
The other day, after a long day out with helping my sister pack for Brisbane, I came home to be greeted by Adrienna at the door, a young girl who my mother babysits. As I walked in, she came up to me, stared at me for a little while and then lifted her arms up to be picked up. I did so, and she then proceeded to pull my face close, and plant a kiss on my cheek, before squirming to be put back down again.

I smiled and put her back down. Now, I should point out, Adrienna is 6 years old, isn't able to speak, and is autistic. She doesn't understand what people say to her, nor fully grasps her surroundings and after I placed her down, she just went back to whatever world it is that she lives in.

Even now, the full sweetness of that moment is still sinking in....

I never really got a chance to post about the snow once I returned from it...instead choosing to whinge about being sick after it.

Suffice to say, it was a lot of fun. Approaching up there, it was strange to see road signs that were almost completely covered, with nothing more than just the top of it showing anymore. There was a tranquil feeling to everything when all that you could see was blanketed in a sea of white, undisturbed and dotted with trees.

It was pretty. A funny thing is that I do not recall a single time of feeling cold. Between wearing all the snow gear, and the accomodation, more often than not, I felt too hot at the snow. Skiing was a blast. Tom was such an awesome teacher, and patient to boot. He also made for a good conversationist at times. :)

One of my most memorable moments though, was the actual falling over as I skiied. Each and everytime I did, I would lie there and laugh for a while, and then get back up only to fall again moments later and laugh some more. My steering skills need to level up somewhat, so rather than crash into other people (*cough* Daz...*cough*), I'd rather take a dive. I remember towards the end of one of the days, I decided to go full pelt down the slope...it was exhilarating....and then I took a dive right at the bottom...and I rolled and skidded and crashed, and I remember looking up to see this massive haze of snow kicked up by my fall and feeling so damn happy about it...

That said, I can really appreciate just how important the ski boots are at protecting your ankles...given my willingness to tumble about in the snow, I know that without those ski boots, I would have broken an ankle or two...

Such a fun trip~! :D

And then recently I went to Barb and Chang's wedding up in Port Douglas. Hands down best wedding I've ever been to. Possibly best trip I've ever been on. They hired out a villa up there. The ceremony was conducted on the premises, and Barb looked radiant. The place was stunning and the views awesome. I've rarely felt as relaxed as I did at that place. I spent so much time in the heated outdoor pool, morning, afternoon and night. Can't wait to see all the underwater shots that Kristie took.

But yeah, the wedding was beautiful, and I have to say that I couldn't be more happy for Chang and Barb, both of whom have been my friends for well over a decade. Watching them interact with their playful warmth always has me smiling on the inside if nothing else. Congratulations to them both~!

Everyone there was awesome...a fresh selection of breads, muffins and pastries every morning...a fully catered dinner after the ceremony...Such fond memories...

And now I've taken up Latin dancing...I've learnt variations of the Cha cha cha...next week will be something else...but it's so much fun...and there's a lot of attractive girls/women to dance with... XD Ultimately though, it's just fun to learn something new like this. I'm having a ball with it~!

I have a really big to-do list this year, that really is about me enjoying life for what it has to offer...

In no particular order, here's what is on the cards:

Continue to learn French
Learn to play the guitar
Do a short course in cooking
Do a short course in massage
Get myself a six pack
Write something...be it a short story or more...
Continue to try new restaurants and cuisines
See more friends and reconnect with a lot of people
Go snorkeling
Travel to NZ and Brisbane
Continue to get into wine and beer
Learn piano~! (I will get back to this YY!!)
Learn to dance (Latin and hip hop)

Also further down the track is travelling to Europe (So holding you to it Nary~!) and Japan.

Also, to discover more of myself...and pursue other things that will make me happy...yeeeeah~!

If you knew that I was going to disappear from your life in say, 10 days, would there be anything you'd say or do to me before then?

...preferably not make me dead. It kinda makes me think of the question of if you knew you had a terminal illness and only x amount of time left to live, how would you live the remainder of it? But that's a seperate question...

 1.

Wearily he sank to his knees, his gauntleted fist grasping the hilt of his sword for support. Blood ran freely from a score of wounds where his armour had been pierced, pooling beneath his body, and staining the earth beneath him. A stillness settled upon the glade, and a single drop of rain fell to land on his brow. Then another. And as if the heavens themselves were weeping, rain began to cascade down in sheets from concrete coloured skies.

...but he was beyond noticing.

2.

He stared at her across the dance floor, dancing to the loud thumping beat of the music. Sweat drenched her brow, as she moved wildly amongst the throng of people out there. She looked up, and her dark eyes met his. Her perfect lips smiled at him seductively as she continued to sway her body, her hands sliding down her hips.

He drained the remainder of his drink, the liquid burning his throat. Setting down his glass, he made his way across the dancefloor to her...

 
1a - Prologue.

(Death of wife - child of woe...) 

He stood there, towering over the camp fire. Despite the cool night air, a sheen of sweat glistened upon his skin, bronzed by the flickering of the flames. Nervously, he shifted from one foot to the other. The cause of his concern lay on the ground across from him.

A low moan of pain escaped through the clenched teeth of the young woman, as a fresh wave of pain wracked her body. It was a difficult labour, and the hands of the woman tending her was slick with crimson blood, as was the cloth and basin next to her.

"I need more water." The midwife called out wearily, without turning around.